


would you run after me?

by hondayota



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Oneshot, WOO, i can apparently only write oneshots, i like it tho tbh so like, i wrote this for pynch secret santa and then forgot about it until now, its a fun time, ok its barely angst lol, opal is not dreamt she ran away from an abusive home and ronan took her in hmm wonder why, ronan and adam didn't get together in high school so there's been much pining, so implied/referenced abuse i guess??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 01:39:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10687134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hondayota/pseuds/hondayota
Summary: ronan loves opal more than anything, so when a neighbor calls child services to report him as an unfit parent, he gets adam to pretend to be the perfect partner so he can keep his daughter.sorry i don't actually know things about child services and i'm very bad at summaries it's better than it sounds i promise (hope?)also sorry if the formatting is off





	would you run after me?

Gansey tugged open the door to Monmouth, yawning. His hand stuck to the knob, wet with glue from Mini Henrietta. In his other hand he held a stack of roof shingles, each cut and painted with loving precision. Even as the door opened, Ronan – Gansey was sure it was Ronan from the amount of cursing at this time of the morning, and from the sheer force of the knocking – continued hammering on it. 

“Ronan,” Gansey said, “I’m glad you’re here. But it’s…” He checked his watch. “Six fifteen on a Saturday. I wasn’t sleeping, obviously. But Blue,” he gestured at the bed behind him, where a groggy shape glared at Ronan, “Was. Adam is. Henry and Noah are still out from last night, I think, but if they were here they would be sleeping.”

“We’re not out. We're here, in this factory, where Ronan is screaming, just like the rest of you.” Henry appeared in Noah’s doorway. He was decidedly not wearing a shirt and his bare chest was decidedly covered in glitter and nail marks.

“We weren't sleeping, either, obviously.” Noah added. “But the noise is still a lot. I could barely hear Henry...”

“Oh, go back in your room before I throw you out the window again.” Noah snickered and tugged Henry back into his room, evidently not bothered by Ronan's threat.

“Why didn’t you just use your key, Ronan?” Gansey questioned.

“I left it at The Barns,” Ronan growled. “I was in a hurry.”

Gansey glanced at Ronan’s haphazard t-shirt, his unlaced shoes. “Clearly.”

“I’m fucking serious, Gansey. Where’s Parrish?”

“He’s in your room. Sleeping. Or was, until you got here, very loudly, very early.” Blue muttered her agreement from Gansey’s bed, her hair a cloud above her head. 

“Shut up, porcupine,” Ronan told her. She flipped him off, then ran a hand through her hair to flatten it. 

“I forgot my clips at home,” Blue mumbled, half-asleep. 

“Oh,” Gansey turned, smiling softly, “There’s some here. You left them once, and I thought you might need them again. I kept them.” Blue grinned. 

“Gross,” Ronan announced, pushing past Gansey toward his room, toward Adam. 

Blue stuck out her tongue. 

//////////////////

Ronan opened the door to his room softly, in case Adam had somehow slept through his entrance. Ronan felt bad for waking him up, really. But this was too important. Too urgent. Still, he stopped in the doorway, allowing himself time to look. 

Adam splayed on his stomach under the blanket, face crushed against the pillow. His hand wound from under the comforter, fingers twined in the edges of the pillow case. Ronan visually traced patterns with the freckles on Adam’s neck, wishing he could to the same with his fingertips. Morning light streamed through the window, catching color in Adam’s faded hair, golden tones in his tan skin. Ronan wanted to stay in the moment forever, let the day pass without movement. 

“I can feel you staring at me,” Adam muttered into Ronan’s pillow. “‘M not asleep. You’re very loud, did you know that?”

“Fuck you.”   
Adam groaned and turned over, arm over his face, and squinted at Ronan. “Did you drive all the way here just to wake us all up and insult me?”

“No, I…” Ronan paused, unsure how to start. “You know Opal?”

“Your daughter? Yeah. It’s still hard to believe you have one.” Adam sat up, scrubbing a hand over his face to clear his eyes. He curled his knees up under the blanket and Ronan crossed the room to sit on the other edge of his bed. 

“For me too, sometimes. Anyway, she’s why I’m here. I got a letter, today. From child services.”  
“Shit,” Adam breathed. “What do they want?”

“They’re gonna take her away, Adam. Or they’re gonna fucking try to. They’re worried I’m an ‘unfit parent’ or something. Because I’m a single dad, and young, and who the hell knows why else.” 

“Shit,” Adam said again. “It’s not the end of the world, right? You can fix this.”

“I need you to help me.”

//////////////////

“Why me? You know anyone else would do it in a heartbeat. Pretend to be Opal’s other parent.” Adam spoke softly, leaning toward Ronan across the bed. 

Because it’s always you, Ronan thought. He said: “Maggot’s out, because she’s a girl, and I don’t lie.” Adam shot him a look. “Not unless I have to. Not about that, not anymore. Gansey’s dating her. Cheng and Czerny are dating each other. It doesn’t feel right. You feel – you’re not dating anyone. You’re on track to be a lawyer. You’ve got that southern charm shit, that should count for something with child services.”

“You think I’m charming, Lynch?”  
“Fuck off, Parrish.”

“I know this is serious. I’d do it in a heartbeat, too. Of course I’ll do it. I just...I don’t know if I’m the right person.”

“You’re the only person, Adam. You understand what could happen to Opal if they take her from me, how much fucking worse it could get. You can explain to child services.”

“That’s true…”

“She reminds me of you, did I ever tell you? Not because...because of her parents, how she got hurt, how she had to get away, but the best parts of her. She’s smart, even if I’m just teaching her here, and she always wants to know more. She wants to understand everything. She asks questions all the fucking time, real ones. She’s gonna do great things one day, be too big for Henrietta.”

“I’ve never heard you talk like that about anyone,” Adam murmured. 

Ronan stood, suddenly aware of the weight of what he was asking, how he and Adam had shifted so their legs were pressed together. He turned for the door. “Yeah, well. Nevermind. I’ll get Gansey to do it.”

“No, Ronan,” Adam grabbed Ronan’s hand, pulling him back, then dropped his fingers. “I’ll do it. I’ll come to The Barns, stay for the rest of break. Until you’re sure you can’t lose her. You’re good for her, I can tell. She’s good for you too.”  
//////////////////

The Barns dripped in lights. Tinsel hung from the roof, wound between strings of Christmas bulbs in a rainbow of colors. An inflatable Santa stood in the lawn, and Adam followed its gaze to a real sleigh, with nine plastic reindeer guiding it. The air smelled like cakes and pine needles, and Adam breathed in deeply. The Barns looked like magic, which was to say they looked like Ronan. 

“Is this real or dreamt?” Adam’s bones thrummed with the impossibility of the question, the illogic of it, how badly he wanted the answer to be something more. 

“Some dreamt. Some from the dollar store in town.It’s tradition.” 

“Did you do it all yourself?”

“Opal helped.” Ronan grinned, but it fell quickly. 

“She’ll help again next year, don’t worry.”

“If we pull this off.”

“We will.”

“Wait ‘till you see the tree,” Ronan added as he parked. 

Adam chose to ignore the abrupt subject change, knowing from the tenseness of Ronan’s muscles, the set of his jaw, that Ronan needed to think of other things. Not that Adam was looking at Ronan. Not that Adam had been looking at Ronan since this morning, wondering. 

He understood why Ronan had chosen him. Everything Ronan had said made sense, but Adam couldn’t shake the feeling that he would mess this up, cost Ronan everything. There was something about the idea of himself as a parent that was harder to grasp than the dreamt decorations. 

They walked into Ronan’s childhood home, where a Christmas tree took up roughly the entire living room. Opal bolted from behind it, arms laden with ornaments, and leapt at Ronan. 

“Ronan!” She shouted. “Look! Matthew and I put on the ornaments like you said we could. Doesn’t it look pretty?”

“Beautiful,” Ronan laughed. 

Something about Ronan’s name on Opals tongue and the music of Ronan’s laugh started an ache in Adam’s body, a want. 

“Adam, you’re here!” Matthew followed Opal around the tree and pulled Adam into a hug, gold curls falling across his forehead. 

“Yeah, I am.” 

“Adam!” 

“Hey, Opal.” 

“Bye, Ronan,” Matthew smiled, “See you for Christmas next week! Declan’s coming too, he promised.” Adam heard his car pull out a few moments later. 

“Why’s Adam here, Ronan?” Opal took Ronan’s hand. “Not that I don’t want you here, Adam,” She added. 

“He’s here because... Adam is my boyfriend.” 

“Oh! Good! I like Adam.” 

Adam’s heart stuttered. Logically, Adam knew this was for the plan; Opal was young, if she knew about the child services worker, she would get scared. If they told her nothing and suddenly acted like a couple, she’d question it. In his head, he replayed those words, coming from Ronan’s lips, and smiled. 

//////////////////

“I should’ve told you before,” Ronan said. He stood at the refrigerator, picking ingredients for dinner. They had driven around most of the day after leaving Monmouth, planning, talking about how to pull this off. Adam had made him stop at the library so they could research custody. They hadn’t discussed what to tell Opal until she had asked, and Ronan panicked. He thought of calling Adam his boyfriend at least once a minute, had to remind himself none of this was real. 

“What?”

“Before I told Opal that you’re my. You know.”

“Oh,” said Adam. “That.”

“That,” Ronan agreed, starting a can of marinara sauce on the stove. He turned to glance at Adam. “Are you seriously fucking studying? It’s Christmas. Break. Meaning stop working yourself to death. Did you even sleep last night?”

“It’s not Christmas yet,” Adam retorted, highlighting a passage in his law textbook. “ And I slept. Well, tried to. But some asshole came and woke me up really early.”

“Wow, sucks for the asshole who had to deal with you in the morning.”

“He deserves it. Plus, he had a good reason.” 

Ronan wanted to light something on fire. Instead, he called Opal down to help with dinner. She flew down the stairs, eager. They cooked together every night they didn’t order in Ninos or make the drive to Monmouth to visit Gansey and Blue, Henry and Noah. He, Declan, and Matthew had done the same with Aurora as kids. Ronan remembered the three of them, before everything, racing through the kitchen at her feet, arguing over who got to crack eggs or use the stove. Mostly he and Declan argued. Matthew was happy to sit by and giggle. 

“Opal,” Ronan said, “Music.”

Opal nodded, blonde bob bouncing up and down. She climbed the counter and reached for a button on a stereo Ronan had dreamt, smacking it with childish fingers, joyful. A beat burst from the speakers, electronic and heavy. Ronan recognized it; the same noise pulsed in his veins. 

“Oh my god. No,” groaned Adam, but he was holding back a smile. “This? She likes your horrible music?” 

“It’s good music,” shouted Opal over the bass. She danced as she stirred the marinara sauce. 

Ronan boiled spaghetti. He watched Adam study, chewing the end of his pen in concentration. He watched Opal spin around the center island, arms wide and smile achingly young. This was what he would wish for, if he could have anything. This, but in his dreams he was allowed to press his lips to Adam’s. This was what they wanted to take away from him. What he had found, finally, again, after years of searching like Gansey for Glendower. Happiness.

//////////////////

“I want Adam to read me a story tonight. I want you to sit on my bed, Ronan, but I want Adam to read. He’s got a pretty voice.”

“You don’t think my voice is pretty?” 

Opal stuck out her tongue. “Not as pretty as Adam’s.”

“Fine, then. Adam will read.” Ronan met Adam’s eyes over Opal’s head, asking everything he couldn’t say out loud. Is this okay? Are you comfortable? Adam nodded.  
Ronan bent to press a kiss to Opal’s forehead, gentle. She laughed, pretending to be disgusted, then said: “Now Adam.”

“Now Adam what?” Repeated Ronan.

“Now kiss Adam, duh. Everyone gets a goodnight kiss before we read. And he's your boyfriend.” 

It was hard to argue with that without jeopardizing the entire thing, so Adam shrugged and tapped a finger to his cheek. “Right here,” he commanded, trying to keep the machine-gun speed of his heart out of his voice. 

Ronan leaned over slowly and pressed his lips to Adam’s cheek. It lasted three seconds, which Adam knew because he was counting. He thought of how Persephone had said good things come in threes, and he felt a bloom of warmth at the contact, Ronan’s skin on his. 

“Ew!” Cried Opal, delighted. “Now, a story.”

Ten minutes later, they squashed on Opal’s bed, the girl between Adam and Ronan. Adam’s leg was pushed against Ronan’s, because the bed was small, he told himself, and their heads were close together as they leaned over Opal, Adam reading. Adam kept his voice low, letting the full force of his Henrietta accent spill. He had nothing to be ashamed of here, no reason to hide. 

When Ronan breathed, Adam could feel it. He watched Ronan’s dark eyelashes flick up and down, his blue eyes follow the story. Every so often, he’d glance at Opal and smile. Every so often, he’d glance at Adam, and Adam would light on fire. 

“Will you come with me?” Ronan asked after Opal had fallen asleep.

Anywhere, Adam thought. “Yeah, why?”

“I want to go over the plan for tomorrow one more time. Make sure nothing’s gonna go to fucking shit.” 

“Of course.”

Ronan led Adam to his childhood bedroom. He cussed when Adam laughed at the bagpipes in the corner, the toy cars lined up on the bookshelf, the fact that Ronan had a bookshelf at all. “Harry Potter?” Adam asked. 

“Asshole. Who doesn’t love Harry Potter?” 

Adam couldn’t argue. He had loved Harry Potter. He’d just thought, somehow, that growing up how Ronan did would make the magic less extraordinary. It was a silly thought, he knew, because he was friends with Noah, who was dead, and Gansey, who had been dead, and Ronan, who pulled birds fully formed from his dreams, and each time he thought of them his wonder grew. 

“So, what time is the child services guy coming?”

“Ten. Sit the fuck down, you’re making me nervous.”

Adam stopped pacing Ronan’s room and joined Ronan on the bed, where Ronan had left a space so Adam’s good ear would be toward him. Ronan seemed nervous, too, leg bouncing up and down to an invisible beat, but Adam said nothing. He looked Ronan in the eyes. 

“Tell me everything you need to happen so you can keep Opal.” 

//////////////////

It took the two of them hours to think of every possible situation, cover all the ground they had to before the morning. Ronan only stopped when Adam began to yawn. 

“I could’ve stayed up later,” Adam joked, “But someone woke me up at six a.m.”

“Sorry for that,” Ronan hissed, but there was no real venom in it. “We’re good, I think. You can sleep in Declan’s room, since Opal’s in Matthew’s.” Adam stretched his legs and pushed himself off the bed, heading for the door. “Or,” Ronan continued, quieter, “You could stay. In case you got used to sleeping with a roommate at college.”

This was the worst excuse Adam had ever heard, and he had never been more glad for it. “Would we even both fit on the bed? You’re not the same size as you were as a kid, Lynch.”

“We’d fit. It’s the same size as your mattress at St. Agnes.” Adam felt heat in his cheeks, remembering the nights he had spent willing himself to just roll over, face Ronan. Face himself.

“Okay.” He climbed into the bed next to Ronan, under the covers, and switched off the light. The bed was small, a breath of space separating them. 

“See? Just like old times.” Ronan whispered. Adam’s heart raced, and he leaned his forehead in until it rested on Ronan’s. Ronan’s breath ghosted over his lips, closer than it had ever been. 

“Yeah. I mean, last year, but yeah.”

//////////////////

Ronan’s alarm went off at eight, playing the same song as the stereo the night before. He sat up, watched the steady rise and fall of Adam’s breathing next to him. His mind was fogged, but last night shone through, a steady flame. Adam’s skin against his. Nothing had happened besides that, their proximity. Ronan thought perhaps everything had happened. 

He dressed in his church suit and woke Opal. It was 8:30. He made breakfast. Adam slept. Opal finished eating, started watching cartoons in the living room. Ronan listened to the Penelope Pitstop theme song. He woke Adam at nine. 

When Adam came downstairs, also wearing one of Ronan’s suits as he hadn’t packed anything appropriate for lying to child services, Ronan’s breath caught in his throat. He tried to swallow the lump, but it stuck. 

“That bad?” asked Adam, after Ronan said nothing for several minutes. 

“Yeah, shithead.” 

Adam broke into a true smile, and Ronan ducked his head and smiled back. The doorbell rang. 

“You okay?” Adam questioned as they walked down the hallway.

“I’m just afraid I’m going to fucking lose her.” 

“You won’t. We can do this.”

Ronan opened the door, trying to keep the shaking in his hand to a minimum. The man on the other side was short. Balding. He smiled thinly at Ronan, peered curiously at Adam.   
“Good morning.” He said, stepping into the foyer. “I’m Mr. Williams, from child services. Mr. Lynch, you adopted Opal earlier this year, but after reviewing your application, we believe there has been a mistake. You are very young, and single, and unemployed. We fear that you may not be a fit parent.”

Ronan blew out a breath, told himself if he hit the man there was no chance he would keep Opal. “I’m not a single parent anymore, actually. This is…”

“Adam,” Adam introduced himself, “Parrish. Ronan’s boyfriend.” He stepped forward and took Ronan’s hand in his. 

//////////////////

“So you’re a lawyer, Mr. Parrish?”

“I will be, once I graduate. I already have an internship lined up.”

Mr. Williams made a note on his clipboard. “Internships don’t pay very much.”

“You’re right, sir, but I work three jobs currently, and Ronan has all the money Opal could ever need.” Ronan nodded, glad Adam had taken charge, and that Adam’s fingers were still twined with his. 

“That’s true,” Ronan added. “I can provide for her future.” 

//////////////////

“Hi, Opal,” Mr. Williams said. “How do you like living here with Ronan and Adam?”

“I love them.” Opal said it as concrete fact, indisputable. “They’re in love and they love me and Ronan and I make dinner while Adam studies and then they read me bedtime stories.”

“That sounds nice.”

Ronan looked at Opal the way he looked at Matthew, without any snake in him. He turned to Adam, who didn’t move, seemingly shocked. 

//////////////////

“And finally,” Mr. Williams flipped to a clean page, “Why do you believe your house is Opal’s best option?”

“I love her,” Ronan answered truthfully. “She's the best thing in my life. Besides Par...Adam, I mean.” This was the truth, too. “And finding her another home where she's actually cared about, having her adjust to a new life, again, is pointless. Because she's smiled every day since she's been here. You, working where you do, must know how much worse it   
could get for her. I don't want that.”

Mr. Williams made notes, said nothing. Adam watched Ronan ball his hands into fists and release them under the table, over and over.

“I know,” Adam said. “How much worse she could have it. I grew up in ‘worse.’ I got out, because I worked hard toward something more. And because I had people supporting me, even if I wouldn't let them as much as they wanted to. Ronan was there. He brought me coffee, or made me eat something if I hadn't for a while. He noticed when I couldn't keep my eyes open, and he didn't point it out, but he helped in ways he knew I'd let him. Little things. He gave me space to be my own person, chase my own freedom, earn it, but he also made sure I didn't study myself to death. So that's how I know our house is the best place for Opal. Because here she has Ronan to love her.” Adam fell silent then, taken aback by his own words. By how easy it had been to say “our” meaning his and Ronan’s, together. To say love. He was still getting used to being known, by himself or anyone else.

//////////////////

Ronan led the child services employee through The Barns, Adam at his side. After an extended tour and what felt like years of questioning, Mr. Williams finally stood to leave.   
“Mr. Lynch,” he said, “I still have to submit my report. But from where I stand, the case for you keeping Opal seems quite strong.”

As the door shut behind him, Ronan swept Opal into his arms and spun her around, laughing. He put her down when she protested, wanting to finish her cartoons, and pulled Adam into a hug. 

“You did it,” Adam said. 

“You helped. You were amazing with Opal.” Adam scrunched his face into an expression of disbelief. “Why do you look like that?”

“I guess it’s hard to believe that I could be good with kids. After everything.”

“You’re not your father. You never were.”

“I know. It’s just hard to remember sometimes. You help me remember, Ronan.” Adam turned to the stairs. “I’m glad you get to keep Opal. I’ll go pack. Will you drive me back to Monmouth?”

“You could stay, you know.” The words were out of his mouth before Ronan could think. He stumbled over his own syllables. He was never good with words that weren’t profanity, preferring to express himself with fists and speed and gasoline. 

//////////////////

“Adam.” 

Ronan’s voice echoed in Adam’s ear. “I have to go back to college, eventually. I can’t stay forever.”

“I understand. This. Me and Opal, it’s a lot. I thought maybe after last night…”

Adam took a deep breath and processed every outcome of his next words in his head. “But I could come back. I would come back, for you. And you could drive up. Harvard isn’t that far from here.” 

Adam moved back toward Ronan, closing the gap between them. Ronan leaned in and kissed him. 

Adam had kissed plenty of people before now, boys and girls, but as soon as Ronan’s lips touched his, he forgot every single one of their names. None of those other kisses mattered, because now this was Ronan’s breath in his mouth, Ronan’s hands in his hair, pushing at the hem of his shirt, Ronan, Ronan, Ronan.   
When Adam was young, he would bike to the community pool twelve blocks down to practice swimming. He let himself disappear into the water, sink straight to the bottom and see how long he could hold his breath. He swam laps, over and over, trying to make it all the way across the pool without breathing, because that made it feel so much better when he finally let go, came up for air. Kissing Ronan felt like floating to the top of the pool, breaking the surface of the water and knowing everything good was waiting for him on the other side. 

“You’ll come back?” Ronan asked, pulling back slightly.

“Yes. For you, and Opal. I’ll come back.”

“We’ll come visit.” 

Adam brought Ronan’s mouth back to his, and Ronan felt a glow of happiness in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from a bad suns song that applies to this version of adam and ronan kinda i think
> 
> thanks so much for reading!! comments and kudos are always appreciated. hmu on tumblr @ nymphhadora


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